Amarilloans differ on gun views

The school shooting that left 28 people dead — 20 of whom were children — in Newtown, Conn., has sparked a nationwide debate about gun control. Here is what some Amarilloans think.

Alex Barrett, 18

“I think it’s important for us to have guns. Taking them away wouldn’t solve anything. This needs to start opening people’s eyes up to how our society is creating an unstable mentality.”

Kim Jordan, 58

“What happened in Connecticut breaks my heart.

“I believe that all guns should be registered. There should be more done to get the illegal guns off the streets. Guns need to be controlled. But I don’t think that will happen. There are too many on the street.

“I have been a hunter my whole life, and my son and I respect nature. People who are respectful, law-abiding citizens don’t need to be a victim of this.

“We can protect kids without having to scare them. There should only be one thing on kids’ mind, and that’s learning. They don’t need to have a fear factor entered in.”

Daryl Seth, 59

“It kind of hit everybody. Everybody is taking it pretty personally. What if it had been their kids or grandkids? They didn’t realize that they would never see their children again.

“When I think of gun control, I think of pistols and shotguns. But it’s all the machine guns and submachine guns that need to be controlled, not regular hunting guns.”

Lucky Lundegreen, 56

“I don’t believe it’s the guns doing it, it’s the people behind the gun. If a sick person wants to get something done, they’ll get it done without a gun.

“It’s sad that this happened, but you can’t treat a school like it’s a prison.”

Angeline Sengdara, 20

“People need to be more careful about who they register guns to. We’re too nice about who gets to own a gun. Maybe they should do more of a background check before giving people guns.”

“I think they should put someone in each hallway who has a gun. But they should watch it closely so a student can’t get it.”

From facebook.com/amarilloglobenews:

Amy Antunez

“I don’t know a good solution to try and prevent other school violences but this (arming teachers in schools) is not one of them. You are asking for more problems if a student steals the gun and uses it at the school to harm others.”

Kris Ellis Brecheisen

“Let’s get real here, since when do criminals obey the law? Taking guns out of the hands of God-fearing, law-abiding citizens will not stop events like the one at Sandy Hook. As a matter of fact, those incidents would more than likely increase because the morons who carry out such atrocities won’t have to worry about anyone having a gun to protect themselves.”